Oooh, Noooo!!!

I've finally grown up, everyone. I hit my big 3-0 the other day.

Have to admit it doesn't feel much different from 29...except for the immense wealth of knowledge & wisdom that comes with age. :o) Just kidding. But like my Mom told her Dad when she turned thirty--I'm not a young whippersnapper any more, & you have to listen to me! :o)

Funny, when I blew out my birthday candles with Mark & the kids, I'm pretty sure I didn't wish for any gray hairs to disappear, but for some reason I can't remember what I DID wish for... does that come with the grander years, too? Immense knowledge & wisdom, but the inability to remember what is it you are so wise about? :o) Must be. Thanks, everyone, for making my birthday fun, & thanks for all the gifts, cards, and sweet birthday wishes!

My birthday pie was a cream cheese & lemon pudding delight, complete with swirls of fresh, home-grown blackberries & homemade blackberry syrup, and a dreamy cloud of real whipped cream on top. Lovely! I had more than my hips could take!

I'm starting something new--Volleyball season has begun, and along with enjoying playing with the fun girls in my ward, I decided to accept the challenge of becoming a ref! Imagine me with a whistle! Along with learning how to not sound like a dying quail whenever I blow the whistle, I have now taken the challenge of learning how to flip a coin. :o) It's not something that I've ever felt compelled to do, so I felt a bit awkward my first time flipping a coin at the game. I've since practiced. :o) As soon as volleyball ends, training for reffing Basketball begins! Whoopee! This is actually fun! :o) I'm glad the girls are forgiving of refs-in-training. :o)

Taylor had another first the other day...her first feeding of rice cereal! She wasn't thrilled, but not terribly offended either. We'll keep trying. :o)

This is one of her more smiley pictures after eating. Most of the pics were quite grim. :o)

This video makes it look like she was enjoying at least a bit--wanted to keep trying--but by the end of the feeding (about 60 seconds later) she had had enough! All she wanted was to chew on the bowl--forget the spoon! It looked like a much more exciting toy anyway. :o)

Saturday was an exciting day. Mikey & Kelli had their first soccer games of the season! Yes, we put them both in soccer--Kelli because she really wanted to play after seeing Mikey play this last spring, and Mikey because he couldn't let his sister get better than him at sports! Besides, Kelli has these really cute pink & black soccer cleats that seem to help her play really well.... :o) They are on two different teams (I know, they're both wearing white jerseys), but luckily their games are either at the same time (both fields are right next to each other), or one after the other. This last Saturday, Mark & I just swapped places at half time--hopefully I got enough footage/pictures of both of them. ;o) Mikey seemed to be getting roughed up a bit, but was quite the trooper & kept working hard! Kelli has been quite the go-getter, & just missed a goal--maybe next time!

Kelli, warming up her pink shoes before the game...

Taylor's a bit concerned at all the whistles & noisy kids. Wouldn't you be?

Taylor hit her 5 month mark yesterday, & we celebrated it with putting on a

Harker Family Talent Show!

I caught the whole thing on tape, but unfortunately, Mark doesn't want it aired on the blog (probably fortunately for you all!!!). If you're simply dying to see it, come visit & I'll plug the camcorder into the tv. :o) Or maybe I could convince Mark that we could at least show the 'grand finale,' which simply means all of us re-doing the same silly stuff we had just performed, but all at the same time. :o) Mark & Mikey, with their soccer talent, Kelli & Addie with dancing (& ballet, as Addie insisted), and Taylor & I with some grooving baby moves, in Baby-Aerobics!

This video was from Saturday afternoon (after the soccer cleats were tossed into the shoe basket), but it'll give you an idea of what Addie & Kelli did for their talent at the talent show.

Addie was quite the announcer for the whole thing--I didn't realize that she was trying to announce each act until Taylor & I took the stage. :o) This morning I realized where she learned that talent (check out the Disney channel--"Did the Monkey Mail come? Did the Monkey Mail come? Yes, the Monkey Mail Came! Well, who's it from? ..... Coming up next, on Play-House-Disney!). Fun times. Good memories! Addie will begin preschool very soon--the class begins Oct. 6th. Hurrah! It'll be weird having just one little Harker at home--especially one that just happens to nap during the same hours everyone else will be at school.... Hmm... just what will I ever think of to keep myself busy?! How about laundry, dishes, bathrooms, bedrooms, dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping.... I could go on. :o) But then you'd have to start singing, "Cinderelly, Cinderelly!" in a high pitched voice. :o)

Have a wonderful day, everyone! Joy